Some of the most remarkable experiences of being an educator include watching students grow as individuals, helping them open their eyes to new ideas, and witnessing their excitement around learning. But as elementary teachers at Hazardville Memorial School in Enfield, CT, we are also all too familiar with the difficult, sometimes heartbreaking moments experienced by our students, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The many pressures of academic demands and school expectations can be an overwhelming experience for many students, not to mention the struggles they may be dealing with outside of the classroom. Often, the first indicator that something is off is a decline in academic performance. With disinterest in schoolwork and aggressive behavior on the rise at our school, we decided to get creative and take action.
The What and Why
Research shows that the more positive relationships kids have with adults, especially at a younger age, the stronger a foundation there is for them to become more effective learners. That’s the “why” behind a program called “PAWS Time” that we came up with five years ago. A wink to our school’s husky mascot, PAWS Time is a highly engaging, weekly enrichment program that allows our students to “pause”: Practice kindness, Always be safe, make Wise choices, and Show respect.
Initially conceived as a six-week pilot program for our second graders, this “passion project” has evolved into one of the entire school’s proudest and most impactful achievements. The schoolwide model of the program has successfully facilitated a new sense of excitement, a willingness to learn, and a true sense of community for Hazardville Memorial.
Here’s how it works: every student participates in PAWS Time together during a 30-minute block each week. They listen to a purposefully selected story, take part in rich class discussions, and complete fun, hands-on, collaborative activities with their peers. It’s a time of the week that boosts curriculum content areas through rich literature, higher-order thinking, and STEM challenges, while also reinforcing social skills like empathy, perseverance, and cooperation.
All of that engagement comes with new adult faces every week. One of the pillars of the program is that different teachers “take over” homeroom classes during PAWS Time. Students get to spend those 30 minutes connecting with past teachers, future teachers, and other adults that they would otherwise not interact with. As a result, PAWS Time has enabled each of our 340 students to get to know every teacher in the building!
The Positives
It’s been so inspiring to see how this program has instilled confidence in our students and positively impacted their day-to-day interactions with other members of our Hazardville Memorial School community. There’s even data to prove it.
When comparing metrics from pre- and post-PAWS Time implementation, the data reported behavior issues and anxiety amongst our students are down across the board. Monthly reports of Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs) were cut in half, and 100 percent of surveyed staff members either agree or strongly agree that the PAWS Time program has supported positive relationship building throughout the school. What’s more, 99 percent of surveyed students expressed that PAWS Time makes them feel happy, excited, creative, special, or other such positive emotions.
It’s not just a feel-good program, though. PAWS Time has assisted us with hitting many of our learning goals and benchmarks, with demonstrated efficacy in helping us reach targets for College and Career Readiness Standards, English as a second language (ESL) development, and the cultivation of speaking and listening skills.
While the PAWS Time program has been a much-needed boon to student morale and learning practices, we would be remiss not to mention its impact on the staff as well. Staff who are typically isolated across departments get to interact with their colleagues and students they wouldn’t otherwise see throughout the day. This not only serves as a welcome jolt of social interaction, but it’s also a much-needed reminder as to why we, as educators, are here in the first place.
Even at the administrative level, PAWS Time has demonstrated immense utility in helping to craft future classroom placements. Now we can pair students with teachers they have met before and have already developed clear and strong relationships with, which helps to alleviate anxiety over grade transitions.
The tremendous impact the PAWS Time program has had on students and staff can be felt the moment you walk through the doors of Hazardville Memorial. Making an intentional commitment to prioritizing positive relationships and making school fun for kids has affected every aspect of our students’ growth. While we recognize that this application may not be feasible in every school in the same way, we hope our story can inspire the adoption of similar methods throughout our district, state, and the country. Our students deserve it.
